Matters of Size

Does size matter? It's an eternal question. More prosaically, the question comes up frequently within the healthcare information technology sphere. On the one hand, pretty much everyone would agree that the size of any company (in terms of revenues, installations, or end-users) is only one element from among a galaxy of factors that prospective buyers of information systems might consider when looking at potential vendor partners. On the other hand, there are times when size (relative, rather than absolute, size) might possibly signal something significant. For example, size can sometimes be seen as a proxy for stability, though it certainly is not the same thing. It can also be viewed at times as speaking to the relative resources that a vendor company can bring to bear when it comes time to roll out its solution-though again, any particular statistic can be interpreted any number of ways.

What is clear is that it is human nature to compare, and to enjoy lists. Not surprisingly, our June issue is one of the most-read of the year. Beginning on page 8, you can indulge in a marathon of comparing, with the annual Healthcare Informatics 100, our unique compendium of the largest healthcare IT vendors operating in the U.S.

What's more, from pages 46 to 56, we share with you profiles of the three large vendors that our readers, in an online survey, voted “most interesting.” Read what the senior executives of those firms say is driving them forward in the current market.

And then you can turn to page 58 and check out “Up and Comers,” a series of mini-profiles of not-large healthcare IT vendors that merit their own kind of attention. Every entry in the “Up and Comers” tells an interesting story about a vendor company with a unique vision, an unusual product offering, or a particularly intriguing trajectory. Many of these companies are quite small, but all are worth tracking. Who knows? Within a few years, any one of them might join the Healthcare Informatics 100.

Healthcare Informatics 2010 June;27(6):4

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